Who Will Be There for You at Midnight?
by ScreamingSatellite
Summary: One-shot. Instead of going back to the Castle That Never Was for their New Year's Eve, Axel and Roxas decide to wait it out on the clock tower until midnight. Roxas knows nothing of the traditions that come with the holiday... Akuroku.


_A/N: Happy New Year! ... I'm really early, at least in my time zone, but I know I won't be at my computer later, so... there's that._

_Anyway, here's a fic I wrote for that occasion. Call it catharsis, because there won't be anyone there for me at midnight. XD Enjoy!_

_Notice: Wow much Akuroku._

* * *

**Who Will Be There for You at Midnight?**

"Well, I guess that's that," Axel said, letting his chakrams disappear from his hands in bursts of flame. "Our mission's over."

"That was a lot of Heartless," Roxas sighed. "It took way longer than it should have. Look, the sun's already disappearing." He gestured to the horizon, where the sun had already mostly vanished against the horizon, turning the sky fading shades of pink but nothing brighter.

"Hey, who cares?" Axel answered with a shrug. "Tonight's New Year's Eve, Roxas. You know what people in Twilight Town do on New Year's Eve?"

Roxas shot him a puzzled look. "What's New Year's Eve?"

Axel rolled his eyes and sighed. "New Year's Eve is the last day of the year," he explained. "Everybody stays up all night and waits for the time when the last day of one year becomes the first day of the next. It's pretty great."

"Oh," Roxas said. "Okay."

"Come on, Roxas. Don't you want to find out what it's all about?" Axel asked. "There are _so_ many New Year's traditions. You know, resolutions, fireworks, champagne, all of that…"

"You know I have no idea what you're talking about," Roxas reminded him with a laugh.

"That is unfortunate," Axel said, shaking his head. "How about this. We ditch the Castle That Never Was tonight and sit on the clock tower until the clock hits twelve."

"Um… okay," Roxas agreed.

"Great," Axel replied. "Follow me!"

* * *

They sat on the edge of the clock tower, eating their sea-salt ice cream and watching the rest of the sun disappear over the horizon. Finally, for once, they saw darkness in Twilight Town.

"It's—" Roxas began.

"It's what?" Axel asked with a smirk.

"Um—I dunno. Pretty, I guess," Roxas answered, looking flustered.

"You're getting soft."

"How can you even say that? I've been here for three hundred and fifty-eight days."

"Actually, that would be three hundred and _sixty-five._"

Roxas shot him a look. "But there are three hundred and fifty-eight days in a year, aren't there?"

"No." Axel shook his head and laughed. "Where on earth did you get _that_ number?"

"I dunno," Roxas said. After a second, he concluded, "You probably told it to me."

"Aw," Axel said. "Don't be like that, Roxy."

Roxas stared at him.

"What?" Axel pouted.

"Since when do you call me 'Roxy'?" Roxas smiled and punched Axel on the arm.

"Heyyy. I've been calling you Roxy since the day you joined the Organization. Don't you remember?" he answered. "Oh wait, no you don't. You were a zombie back then…"

"Shut up," Roxas laughed.

"So since you're apparently so behind on how to celebrate New Year's Eve," Axel said, "why don't you let me educate you on how it works?"

Roxas snorted. "Like I asked," he said, "know-it-all."

* * *

"Okay, so you're supposed to make a resolution."

"A what?"

"Like… Something you want to change next year."

"I know," Roxas said, jumping up. "I wanna defeat more Heartless. And eat more sea-salt ice cream."

"I don't think eating more sea-salt ice cream is much of a change," Axel laughed.

"Whatever," Roxas answered. "I'm still going to do it. What about you?"

"Me?" Axel asked. "Well, I dunno… I guess I wouldn't mind actually having a heart this year."

"Are you kidding me right now, Axel? We're talking about celebrating here, and you're still moping about not having a heart?"

"How can you not think about not having a heart?"

"I dunno," Roxas said. "It's just something I don't need to worry about right now."

Axel sighed. "Okay. Well… I guess I want…"

He laughed. Roxas looked at him. "What do you want?"

"No, never mind. It's nothing," he said.

Roxas noticed that a flush had crept across the redhead's face, but he didn't say anything.

* * *

"Man, why don't they have champagne-flavored ice cream…"

"What's that?"

"It's this… really nice drink that makes everything look like it's glowing."

Roxas tipped his head to one side. "How do those two things go together?"

"You wouldn't know," Axel laughed. "It's alcohol. You're technically not old enough to have any… But if they did sell it, I'd let you try some in a heartbeat."

"A _heartbeat_, Axel?" Roxas teased with a grin. "Are you sure you're sober?"

"Goddamn it."

* * *

"Fireworks?" Roxas asked. "Like the ones we saw on the Fourth of July? Those were scary."

"Oh, come on, Roxas," Axel laughed. "You survived them last time. They won't hurt you. They're actually really far away."

"B-but…"

"If you really can't take it, I'll shield you," Axel said. "But I thought… you were stronger than that."

* * *

By that time the hands on the clock were inching toward midnight, and Axel clapped his hands together. "So, there's, um… one other thing that I forgot to warn you about," he told Roxas.

"What's that?"

"At midnight…"

He trailed off.

"Um, Axel? Are you going to finish—"

The clock struck twelve, cutting him off midsentence. Roxas glanced around, wondering what was supposed to happen.

"At midnight," Axel said, his voice rising over the chimes of the clock, "you're supposed to kiss someone."

"Wait, what?" Roxas asked.

He didn't have a chance to protest before Axel leaned in and kissed him.

A few seconds later, the fireworks started in the distance, and Roxas jumped away from Axel, nearly falling off the clock tower in his fright. Axel couldn't help but laugh.

"Sorry, Roxas," he said when he had the breath to form words. "I couldn't help it… Got it memorized?"

"I've got it memorized, all right," Roxas said, halfway smiling, from his spot on the ground a few feet away. "And you don't need to be sorry."


End file.
